Chemical supply system

Abstract

A chemical supply system comprises, as principal elements, a chemical storage tank in which a liquid chemical for cleaning is stored in the state of its formulated concentrate, a chemical supply apparatus connected to the chemical storage tank for positively performing chemical supply, a piping system connected to the chemical supply apparatus to form a supply flow passage that is a passage for ultrapure water which the liquid chemical is to be mixed with, a pair of discharge nozzles disposed at end portions of the piping system so as to oppose surfaces of a wafer set in a cleaning chamber to supply a cleaning liquid onto the surfaces. Thereby, remarkable miniaturization / simplification of a cleaning liquid supply system including chemical tanks is intended, it is made possible easily and rapidly to compound and supply a cleaning liquid at an accurate chemical concentration, and particles or the like being generated and mixing in a cleaning liquid, are suppressed to the extremity.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chemical supply pump, a chemical supply apparatus, and a chemical supply system (a chemical supply method) for accurately supplying a desired quantity of a liquid chemical, in particular, it is suitable for applying to a substrate cleaning apparatus (a substrate cleaning method) for cleaning semiconductor wafers or the like. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally in a semiconductor wet process, used is a substrate cleaning apparatus for performing a process such as cleaning with a cleaning liquid of ultrapure water and a liquid chemical. As such a substrate cleaning apparatus, remarked is a substrate single wafer spin cleaning apparatus in which substrates are loaded one by one and a cleaning liquid is supplied with rotating the substrate in a circumferential direction. In a conventional substrate cleaning apparatus, it was indispensable to provide a plurality of large-sized clean...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chemical supply pump, a chemical supply apparatus, a chemical supply system, a substrate cleaning apparatus, a chemical supply method, and a substrate cleaning method, wherein remarkable miniaturization / simplification of a cleaning liquid supply system including chemical reservoirs (chemical storage tanks) is intended, it becomes possible easily and rapidly to compound and supply a cleaning liquid at an accurate chemical concentration when it is required in cleaning, and it is realized to suppress particles or the like being generated and mixing in a cleaning liquid, to the extremity.

According to a chemical supply pump of the present invention, a movable wall is driven and controlled by a shaker to oscillate, and a liquid chemical is discharged by the pressure, and a desired quantity of the liquid chemical can be discharged and supplied with accuracy. Here, used is a compact member, preferably, amorphous carbon, that at least part of the liquid contact surface has non-permeability and a high anti-corrosion property to the liquid chemical. This amorphous carbon is a material easy to control its porosity, and one whose porosity is substantially zero is very superior in non-permeability and the high anti-corrosion property. Accordingly, by providing this amorphous carbon on the important portion of the liquid contact surface, the supply quantity control of the liquid chemical becomes more accurate, and mixing of particles or the like into the liquid chemical is suppressed.

Further in the present invention, provided is a chemical supply system including this chemical supply apparatus as a component and for supplying the above mixture solution. In this chemical supply system, because it is possible to produce mixture solutions at desired concentrations at need as described above, enough is the easily movable small-sized reservoir for the liquid chemical that is the formulated concentrate. That is, in this chemical supply system, there is no necessity of providing very large reservoirs for mixture solutions different in chemical concentration and kind as conventionally, and not only particle mixing to a cleaning liquid, or the like, can be suppressed, but also remarkable reduction / simplification of the scale of the whole system can be realized. Accordingly, by applying this chemical supply system to, e.g., a substrate cleaning apparatus, it becomes possible rapidly and easily to supply various pure cleaning liquids (mixture solutions) different in concentration and kind.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, remarkable miniaturization / simplification of a cleaning liquid supply system including chemical reservoirs (chemical storage tanks) is intended, it becomes possible easily and rapidly to compound and supply a cleaning liquid at an accurate chemical concentration when it is required in cleaning, and it is realized to suppress particles or the like being generated and mixing in a cleaning liquid, to the extremity.

Problems solved by technology

Accordingly, the whole system becomes a very large scale and complex inevitably in this case.

Further, generation of particles and (metal) contamination from various liquid-contact portion caused by complication of the substrate cleaning apparatus is in question.

In this manner, at present, it is difficult to avoid increases in scale and complication of the whole apparatus attendant upon an increase in cleaning speed of substrate cleaning apparatus.

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